(Posted 4/22/09 - last updated 4/20/09)

With apologies to Neil Armstrong . . . That's one small donation from a man, another giant leap for Chamberkind.

You've done it again!!! We have managed to leapfrog some benchmarks and can now proudly say that we've passed $17,000 in donations for the Chamber Challenge. That's fantastic. But let's not let up now because we've got a long way to go and we're running out of time to get there.

We are lead in this go-round but Robert Wagner (the diver, not the actor) who has once again come through with a $1000 donation and whose name will go on one of our Chamber birthday candles. And just to be clear, Robert's "just a diver" who understands the importance of our Chamber to the overall health and safety of the SoCal diving community.

We are also pleased to announce that Beach Cities Scuba will be getting their name on a candle as they also have agreed to donate $1000 to the Challenge. They're a good example of a dive-related business that's willing to take some of the profit we make from this sport we love so much and invest it in to the Chamber for the greater good of the diving community.

These folks are obviously not alone but we've got room for plenty more. And by banding together, that's how we all help our Chamber stay strong.

We're two weeks away from Chamber Day & Eve. So we've got two more weeks to help strengthen the financial position of our Chamber. Much as we like seeing those 41000 donations and getting those candles lit, donations of every amount are appreciated. So . . .

Who's next? Who will get us past $18,000???

CHAMBER CHALLENGE 2009 - $17,315 total (Updated 4/22/09 @ 8PM - last updated 4/20)
(* New donors are marked in bold with an asterisk)

Gold ($1,000 and up)
* Beach Cities Scuba
* Robert Wagner
Mike Emmerman
Pat Stockhausen
T.J. Emmerman
Scuba.com
DiveNav, Inc.
Pacific Wilderness
Sport Chalet
Laurie Kasper & Ken Kurtis

Silver ($500-999)
Jim & Nancy Krasne
Scuba Schools of America
Karl Huggins
CA Diving News/The Scuba Show
Dr. Susan Grant

Bronze ($100-499)
* In memory of Robert W. Myers
* Mark Windham
* Chris Rybak
* ConocoPhillips (Rybak matching grant)
* Steve Benevides
* Meg Donat
* Jim Hall/Lobster Festival
* Dr. Louis Weisberg
*Laguna Sea Dwellers
Frank Huntley
Mark Carry
South Orange County Dive Club
Ocean Adventures
Lost Patrol Dive Club
Roy & Linda Houston
Great Escape Charters
Deborah Huh
Nicole Jurisch
In memory of Fran Ollweiler
The Sea Divers
Debbie & Derek Karimoto
Rex Uber
Renee Calderwood
Brock Dewey
Divematrix.com
Marc Hall
Team CK
Michael Swinney
Kevin Augarten
Susy Horowitz
www.indianvalleyscuba.com
Walt & Tori Watson
Randy Barker
Jim Haw
Gary Sanders
Henry Gittler
Jerry Nickelsburg

Others (less than $100)
Hedy Henderson

Ken Kurtis
Chairman, Chamber Day/Eve 2009
www.chamberday.org
310/652-4990